Latest sanctions show US' evil intentions to sow division in Lebanon: Lawmaker

A Lebanese legislator has denounced the United States over imposing sanctions on Gebran Bassil, the leader of the country’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), saying the move exposed Washington’s evil intentions to provoke discord and division within the Lebanese nation.

“Sanctions against Bassil reveal US' bad intentions to sow discord and division among Lebanese people. The political practice of the US administration around the world reflects its goal of sanctifying the American law at the expense of [ignoring] other countries’ regulations,” Hasan Izz al-Din, a member of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc – the political wing of Hezbollah resistance movement, said.

He added, “We affirm our solidarity with the former foreign minister in the face of the unjust American measures… The US sanctions are an assault on the sovereignty of Lebanon and its internal laws.”

“Who has appointed the US administration as a trustee for the world to classify parties and entities? Instead of helping Lebanon overcome its crises at the current critical juncture, the United States has opted to sanction Gebran Bassil,” Izz al-Din pointed out.

Lebanon’s Bassil says US sanctions result of his refusal to break ties with Hezbollah

‘Sanctions come and go, but compromising national peace and unity is a crime.’

On Sunday, Bassil condemned sanctions imposed against him, saying the "unjust" and "politically-motivated" action stems from his refusal to sever ties with the Hezbollah resistance movement.

“These sanctions are an injustice and I will fight them and sue for damages,” Gebran Bassil, who leads a party largely supported by the Christian community, said in a televised speech, after the US Treasury Department blacklisted him over accusations of corruption.

“Sanctions come and go, but compromising national peace and unity is a crime,” Bassil said, adding that Hezbollah is vital to the defense of Lebanon and that he would not “stab any Lebanese in the back for foreign interests.”

Hezbollah, in a statement on Friday, decried the US sanctions as a blatant intervention in the Arab country’s domestic affairs.

The movement said the US sponsors and fully supports terrorism, extremism, corruption, corrupt leaders, and dictatorships across the globe, stressing that Washington does not have the right to preach on fighting terrorism.

“This decision specifically aims at subjecting a large Lebanese political team to the American conditions and dictates on Lebanon,” Hezbollah further said in the statement, adding that the US employs its internal laws, including its so-called anti-terrorism and anti-corruption Acts, to extend its dominance and influence over other countries.

Lebanon’s Gebran Bassil downplays US sanctions

The leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian bloc, Gebran Bassil, says he is not intimidated by the sanctions that the United States has imposed against him.

The United States sanctioned Bassil on Friday. President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law and also the head of the party with the single-biggest bloc in parliament has stressed that he is intimidated by the move.

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